You know it’s bad when even the BBC decides to take a closer look at the numbers.

Sudesh Amman, 20, carried out the Streatham attack last month only 10 days after his release from jail. It was a case that reverberated across Europe, where other offenders will soon be freed.

Sudesh was released early and went on a stabbing rampage.

The terrorist shot dead by police after stabbing two people in Streatham on Sunday was automatically released from prison just a few days ago, after serving less than half of a three year-plus sentence for 13 terror offences. 

Knife-obsessed’ Sudesh Amman, 20, went on a rampage in south London, stabbing a man in his 40s in the stomach and a female cyclist in her 50s in the back, though both survived. 

He also described Yazidi women as slaves and said the Koran made it permissible to rape them, and in another message he encouraged his girlfriend to behead her parent

How many of these hidden gems are there waiting to be released? A lot.

Hundreds will be released from European prisons within the next few years, figures suggest. Europol, the EU’s law enforcement arm, gives an idea of the numbers.

From 2016 to 2018, Spain had the most court cases for terror offences (343) in the EU, followed by the UK (329), France (327) and Belgium (301).

Terror offenders do not stay behind bars forever – a point underlined by Globsec, a think tank. Of 199 individuals arrested for terror offences in 2015, 57% would be released by 2023, it said. Their offences range from planning attacks and membership of a terrorist group to financing terrorism.

In France alone, around 45 of the more than 500 terror offenders in jail are expected to be released this year. In the UK, the number is 50

I’m sure that will work out well. It always has.